DoN is delighted his inkjet print collage was selected to be included in the Art of the Flower show at The Philadelphia Sketch Club. The annual show includes many of DoN‘s favorite Philadelphia painters and photographers as selected by juror James P. Repenning; helping install the show was especially fun knowing DoN’s “Ginkgo” is included along side exquisite works by Peltzman, Eckstein, Monaghan, Barnes, Tony Anthony, Roschen, Camera… The reception and awards is Sunday @ 2:00. Repenning’s work on the art card is lovely but in real life is an incredible mixed media piece with dimension, depth and high style design, executed with utmost craft – really stunning.
Category Archives: Paintings Philadelphia
Hearts @ High Wire
February is over, finally. DoN keeps getting unsolicited e-mails from Yahoo personals that he has 0 matches. 0. Out of the millions of Yahoo’ers absolutely zero are a match made in cyber-heaven. Valentines Day is stupid but the show at High Wire in Fishtown was intelligently filled with hugs and kisses. A whole lot of love.
Alden Cole’s “Take Another Piece of My Heart, Now Baby.” paired with the Frank Sinatra homage is sublime. First of all, Frank Sinatra is dead, so it’s really about worship, not love. The radiant Alden self-portrait with diced hearts is enlightened to the transient nature of love, good-naturedly doled out in bits and pieces.
Jim Bloom @ High Wire. “Men Seldom Make Passes At Girls Who Wear Glasses.”
Isaiah Zagar , “Julia Loves Folk Art“, mixed media @ High Wire Gallery.
Zagar’s installation was enormous, painterly, informed and cerebral like he was hit by a bolt of pink lightning from the sky and love is shattered into shards of broken memories.
William Lukens – Recent Paintings @ Da Vinci Art Alliance
William Lukens @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.
William Lukens @ Da Vinci Art Alliance.
DoN attended the lecture about Hamlet, the play & Romeo e Gulietta, the opera and noticed how marvelously these paintings complemented the discussion about language and story telling. Lukens paintings reach out to the viewer with signing, signature and the signed – Karen Saillant, artistic director of the International Opera Company said her players must have “aus strahlung” – an emanation or outer radience. Lukens ist wie äußere Strahlung zur Unendlichkeit und jenseits.
Mimesis – Neilson Carlin & Allen Carter @ Pierre S. DuPont Art Center
Mimesis ; ape-ish copying. The technical definition is simple but Carter and Carlin exhibit considerable skill in creating atmospheric naturalism, magic realism and ecclesiatical ecstatic images designed to stir the soul and portray the mystery of life through painting.
Neilson M. Carlin @ The Pierre S. DuPont Art Center, Wilmington, DE.
Neilson M Carlin. DoN overheard Neilson tell a gallery visitor, “you have to scare the kids; raw meat and naked men.” Carlin has a really great website representing the artist effectively, his understanding of interface design on the web and what he calls “Memesis” in painting is powerful; Carlin has his own painting school in Kennett Square with a dedicated following.
Panoramic shot of preparatory drawings for a major painting.
Allen G. Carter, Sr. @ The Pierre S. Dupont Art Center. Carter wrote an article for International Artist’s magazine – visit the cool website with Allen’s article here. Carter exhibited works in process including color palettes and diagrams of the design included in the magazine article, utilizing and energizing the space with knowledge and learning. The school has a really excellent gallery space with the room to explain everything that goes into creating a classically modern masterpiece even displaying full-scale cartoons by Carlin used to create a large scale mural.
Allen G. Carter, Sr. @ Mimesis Exhibit in The Pierre S. DuPont Art Center.
Artist and teacher – Allen G. Carter, Sr. with his painting teacher and mentor Neilson M. Carlin @ the opening reception for Memesis in The Pierre S. DuPont Center for the Arts in Tower Hill School.
It’s a small, small World @ The Plastic Club
The opening reception at the Plastic Club this past Sunday for the small Worlds exhibition was very entertaining. The membership of the club is so welcoming and warm, the food and wine so delicious and the art so extraordinary that its impossible to not have a good time. With over 180 works in the show, virtually every Philly fine artist, whether aspiring or accomplished, was present; DoN said, Hi, to Doris Petzman, Sue Barnes, Reta Sweeney, Pat Monaghan and Cyna, Karl Olsen, Jym Paris, Eileen Eckstein, Morris Klein, Art Ostroff, Mina Smith-Segal, Rob Willis, Deb Weber, Mike Guinn, Bob Jackson and many more familiar faces that it will take DoN a while to remember all the names.
The awards were dominated by younger artists which DoN finds very satisfying considering the concentration of art schools in the hood.
1st Prize David Golas, Self Portrait, A Closer Look
2nd Prize Jill Sprague
3rd Prize Louise LaFond
Honorable Mentions: Lucy Pistilli, Robert Bohne and Nathan Irvin
Juror: Joseph Kazimierczyk.
1st Prize winner David Golas is an intensely personal self portrait.
Photo by Rick Wright and 2 paintings by Reta Sweeney.
A superb plein air by Sue Barnes; the scudding clouds warning of an incoming storm at the Jersey shore.
Karl R. Olsen‘s “B”.
Irma Shapiro‘s “It’s Just A Story“, acrylic.
Susan DiProno‘s “Smokin’ Claudia III“, photo. Bob Jackson talked to the crowd about the importance of excellent presentation, this piece tells the story with a simple frame, unobtrusive mat and non-glare glass not to mention the stunning composition.
Karen Frank’s, “Duck, Meet Unicorn“, prismacolor. DoN LoVeS this one.
Lucy Pistilli, “Dream 2“, Pencil.
The winners circle at small Words @ The Plastic Club.
Bob Jackson cooking delectable tidbits for the party on the new stove in the Plastic Club’s basement kitchen – YuMMy!!!






















